A branch of American Premium food company, Craft Heinz Nigeria, has explained that meeting the needs of Nigerians in terms of food preference has informed the firm’s decision to diversify its product offerings.

Indeed, the firm, which recently added its Pepper range (Ketchup, Mayonnaise and Baked Beans) to its products range noted that while efforts are underway to explore other areas, there is a need to improve access to raw materials for production.

Speaking with The Guardian, Country Manager of Craft Heinz company in West and Central Africa, Vincent Egbe, said: “the pepper range is just a style we refer to as ‘food revolution’, we had the oil revolution in the 70s and now, we are talking about food revolution where Nigerians can feed themselves so that the country can become the epicenter; nucleus of food security for the rest of Africa.

“When you look back to the past three decades, you discover that Nigeria has evolved; we decided to embrace our movies over foreign movies, we embraced our culture in terms of Nollywood and we were able to export it.

“It is only a question of time when Nigerian food will become the rave of the moment and be appreciated. Our brand has been around for 147 years so, it is imperative for craft Heinz Company to start creating foods that are tailored specifically not just for the international market but also for Nigerian taste by infusing Nigerian spices like the Nigerian pepper, Sombo and Ata rodo.”

Speaking on the firm’s production plan, he said: “We have a factory in Lagos and another one in Ibadan; we are currently manufacturing 40 per cent of what we consume in Nigeria but our objective by 2019 is to make it 100 per cent.”